For background information to help you understand this small portion of The Iliad from the Language of Literature, you may wish to read about "The House of Atreus." Then read this section of The Iliad, and answer the questions below in complete paragraphs using only standard English.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Understanding Other Cultures
What aspects of the Greek culture are evident in this excerpt of The Iliad as revealed in the behaviors of or emotional responses of Achilles?
There is 2 noticeable thing that jump out in "The Iliad" that are influenced by the Greek culture: gods/goddess and funerals. In the Greek culture there is a god/goddess for just about everything, the sea, wisedom, beauty, etc. In "The Iliad", the gods/goddess are Achilles (half god), Apollo, Athena, Thetis, Zeus, and Ares. In that time it was customary to burn the body as a proper burial.
From previous reading of other Greek stories a lot of adverse situations are born from grudges and won by revenge. Achilles is a perfect example of this. He was angry at Agamemnon for taking his girl, and therefore held a grudge against him by not choosing not to fight in the war. Achilles' best friend, Patroclus, is then killed in the war wearing Achilles' armor. Achilles is deeply saddened, and plans to take revenge out on Hector, the slayer of his best friend. Boastfulness, also prevails in this. Achilles does this by taking the Body of Hector, and dragging his lifeless body behind his chariot around the city.
The Greek culture believe in the dead world. Achilles refer to it a couple of times in the Iliad. "If in the dead world they forget the dead..," (pg.74), implying that he will never forget his great friend even if the ones around him may. "If somehow even in the world of death you learn of this--," (pg.79), asking his friend to forgive him in a prayer. Achilles believe that there was a world for the dead and his friend is living in it.
Grecian stories are often full of characters that are passionate and dynamic; it has been said that this characteristic is an embodiment of the environment in which the Greeks lived. Looking at Achilles, who displays his violent side with the death of Patrocles, as well as the actions of the gods in this and other stories, this is a modestly validated point. Additionally, the body was regarded as a sacred thing, as shown by Priam's efforts to recover Hector's corpse for its grand burial and the subsequent days of mourning.
One of the aspects of Greek culture shown by the portion of the Iliad is the attitude towards death. When Petroclus was slain, it took the combined efforts of Odysseus and Ajax to to recover his body and once it was recovered a grand funeral was held with a large pyre for cremation. Another example of this was when Priam braved the entire Greek army to recover Hector's body so it could receive a proper burial. One aspect of Greek culture that the Iliad reveals is the value of vengeance that some people held. Achilles threw away many principles of honor when he refused Hector's request to be returned to his father if he was to lose the fight with Achilles. In addition, even when Priam begged Achilles to return Hector's body, he refused until Priam was forced to offer a massive amount of gold in exchange.
There are many culture aspects that are displayed in the Iliad by Achilles actions. One obvious one is the influence of Greek gods. Achilles for one is the breed of a goddess and a mortal man. Another way that this show is that the gods and goddesses help in his battle such as the one when Achilles battles Hector. Also when the gods help Hector father travel to Achilles without any trouble. Another part of the Greek culture that is displayed in the Iliad is the respect of elders in the society. One main example is Achilles does not want to offend Hectors father because he is an elder in the society. Another example of the Greek culture is the routine of the burial of the people in a city. Time after time it is mentioned how the people of Troy would have liked for their great hero Hector to be buried. Achilles shows that Greek gods have an important part in the decision making that is made in the society, that there is great respect for the elders in a society, and the burial process of the Greeks and Trojans.
An aspect of Greek culture shown by the Illiad excerpt is the near two-sided personality that people in that time were mandated by society to have. Achilles, upon hearing of the death of Patroclus, responded with unbound rage and a desire to exact revenge on Hector. However, before Achilles could exact his revenge, he must retrieve the body and treats it as a holy object, in every sense of the word. The dynamic shift between the raging, vengeful side of Achilles and the compassionate, almost apologetic side, reveals how the people of Greece must've acted when the locale differed.
Pride, vengefulness, and (contrastingly) love and pity should be considered among the primary aspects of Greek culture, at least those embodied in the character of Achilles. He takes great pride in himself, his fighting abilities, and his position of leadership to the degree that he considers his own withdrawal from battle (directed at Agamemnon for taking his lady) to be a worthy revenge. Although appearing in this situation, vengeance reoccurs when Achilles' friend Patroclus (purposefully emulating the image of Achilles by wearing his armor) is slain by Hector whom Achilles subsequently kills and, as if that weren't enough, treats his lifeless body in an extraordinarily disrespectful and sacrilegious manner, dragging it a great distance by chariot; but the empowering factor for his desire to destroy and shame Hector is rooted in deep love for his friend. He obviously than relates his own emotional responses in loss to those of Hector's father and, having pity, returns Hector's body to be properly buried. It can be concluded than that Greek culture made use of a gambit of mixed emotional responses and composed a very war-oriented society.
There is 2 noticeable thing that jump out in "The Iliad" that are influenced by the Greek culture: gods/goddess and funerals. In the Greek culture there is a god/goddess for just about everything, the sea, wisedom, beauty, etc. In "The Iliad", the gods/goddess are Achilles (half god), Apollo, Athena, Thetis, Zeus, and Ares. In that time it was customary to burn the body as a proper burial.
ReplyDeleteFrom previous reading of other Greek stories a lot of adverse situations are born from grudges and won by revenge. Achilles is a perfect example of this. He was angry at Agamemnon for taking his girl, and therefore held a grudge against him by not choosing not to fight in the war. Achilles' best friend, Patroclus, is then killed in the war wearing Achilles' armor. Achilles is deeply saddened, and plans to take revenge out on Hector, the slayer of his best friend.
ReplyDeleteBoastfulness, also prevails in this. Achilles does this by taking the Body of Hector, and dragging his lifeless body behind his chariot around the city.
The Greek culture believe in the dead world. Achilles refer to it a couple of times in the Iliad. "If in the dead world they forget the dead..," (pg.74), implying that he will never forget his great friend even if the ones around him may. "If somehow even in the world of death you learn of this--," (pg.79), asking his friend to forgive him in a prayer. Achilles believe that there was a world for the dead and his friend is living in it.
ReplyDeleteGrecian stories are often full of characters that are passionate and dynamic; it has been said that this characteristic is an embodiment of the environment in which the Greeks lived. Looking at Achilles, who displays his violent side with the death of Patrocles, as well as the actions of the gods in this and other stories, this is a modestly validated point. Additionally, the body was regarded as a sacred thing, as shown by Priam's efforts to recover Hector's corpse for its grand burial and the subsequent days of mourning.
ReplyDeleteOne of the aspects of Greek culture shown by the portion of the Iliad is the attitude towards death. When Petroclus was slain, it took the combined efforts of Odysseus and Ajax to to recover his body and once it was recovered a grand funeral was held with a large pyre for cremation. Another example of this was when Priam braved the entire Greek army to recover Hector's body so it could receive a proper burial. One aspect of Greek culture that the Iliad reveals is the value of vengeance that some people held. Achilles threw away many principles of honor when he refused Hector's request to be returned to his father if he was to lose the fight with Achilles. In addition, even when Priam begged Achilles to return Hector's body, he refused until Priam was forced to offer a massive amount of gold in exchange.
ReplyDeleteThere are many culture aspects that are displayed in the Iliad by Achilles actions. One obvious one is the influence of Greek gods. Achilles for one is the breed of a goddess and a mortal man. Another way that this show is that the gods and goddesses help in his battle such as the one when Achilles battles Hector. Also when the gods help Hector father travel to Achilles without any trouble. Another part of the Greek culture that is displayed in the Iliad is the respect of elders in the society. One main example is Achilles does not want to offend Hectors father because he is an elder in the society. Another example of the Greek culture is the routine of the burial of the people in a city. Time after time it is mentioned how the people of Troy would have liked for their great hero Hector to be buried. Achilles shows that Greek gods have an important part in the decision making that is made in the society, that there is great respect for the elders in a society, and the burial process of the Greeks and Trojans.
ReplyDeleteAn aspect of Greek culture shown by the Illiad excerpt is the near two-sided personality that people in that time were mandated by society to have. Achilles, upon hearing of the death of Patroclus, responded with unbound rage and a desire to exact revenge on Hector. However, before Achilles could exact his revenge, he must retrieve the body and treats it as a holy object, in every sense of the word. The dynamic shift between the raging, vengeful side of Achilles and the compassionate, almost apologetic side, reveals how the people of Greece must've acted when the locale differed.
ReplyDeletePride, vengefulness, and (contrastingly) love and pity should be considered among the primary aspects of Greek culture, at least those embodied in the character of Achilles. He takes great pride in himself, his fighting abilities, and his position of leadership to the degree that he considers his own withdrawal from battle (directed at Agamemnon for taking his lady) to be a worthy revenge. Although appearing in this situation, vengeance reoccurs when Achilles' friend Patroclus (purposefully emulating the image of Achilles by wearing his armor) is slain by Hector whom Achilles subsequently kills and, as if that weren't enough, treats his lifeless body in an extraordinarily disrespectful and sacrilegious manner, dragging it a great distance by chariot; but the empowering factor for his desire to destroy and shame Hector is rooted in deep love for his friend. He obviously than relates his own emotional responses in loss to those of Hector's father and, having pity, returns Hector's body to be properly buried. It can be concluded than that Greek culture made use of a gambit of mixed emotional responses and composed a very war-oriented society.
ReplyDelete